When Greenpeace activists showed up to Houston this week to protest big oil, they certainly made a statement – just maybe not the one they’d intended.
The protesters, which NBC described as a mere “several” people numbering around a dozen,reportedly suspended themselves from the Fred Hartman Bridge in Houston Thursday morning to rage against the oil machine, literally hanging themselves off the bridge with colored fabric. The group reportedly said they plan to stay on the bridge for “at least 24 hours,” according to the report.
And the little group was pretty proud of themselves for it, if they did say so themselves.
“We’re in Houston shutting down the largest oil export channel in the country to resist Trump & the oil industry for fueling this #ClimateCrisis,” Greenpeace self-congratulated on Twitter, adding, “It’s time to end the age of oil.”
BREAKING: We're in Houston shutting down the largest oil export channel in the country to resist Trump & the oil industry for fueling this #ClimateCrisis.
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) September 12, 2019
It's time to end the age of oil. #PeopleVsOil pic.twitter.com/iFfDuz5dQY
But the internet was quick to point out a fly in the group’s logic ointment – most notably, that everything they were wearing during their protest was manufactured and shipped using…well, oil.
Did you guys walk there?
— Regs (@r3gulations) September 12, 2019
Your plastic hard hat and pretty green vest are made of oil. Also your glasses frames. Probably your sneakers, too.
— Daniel Lee (@RealDanLee) September 12, 2019
Good thing you are wearing your petroleum based plastic helmet and safety vest.
— Marshall Motley (@RaiderMot) September 12, 2019
Just curious: Are those lenses glass or polycarbonate?
— Redcloak the Unruly (@BrewingAle) September 12, 2019
Despite their clearly best efforts, Greenpeace is having a rough go of it this week when it comes to activism. Just before getting lit up on Twitter for not knowing how oil actually affects their daily lives, armed Polish police boarded a Greenpeace boat that was blocking a shipment of coal to the port of Gdansk.